There has been a longstanding need to improve the strength, endurance, dexterity and coordination of the hand and finger muscles. Problems associated with the inability to control finger movements and perform in accordance to the desired tasks have been compounded by the increasing complexity of tasks that unprecedented technological improvements have placed on the human fingers and hands. Resistance training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength of skeletal muscles and tendons. It is possible to strengthen the skeletal muscles by providing resistive exercises over a period of time. Owing to its ubiquitous nature, the use of smart computing devices (computers, smartphones, tablets, video game systems, and so forth) has exponentially increased and has resulted in the constant use and overuse of our hands and fingers. Moreover, the usage of these smart computing devices causes a dramatic increase in repetitive strain injuries such as nerve entrapments, muscle strain, and tendon problems due to lack of hand and finger specific exercises. Other key role players that contribute to overuse of hands are improper or awkward muscle movements during exercises, excessive weight lifting during hand exercises like push-ups (one-handed or using both the hands), constant typing, sewing, causing serious injuries to hand muscles, severe muscle fatigue and/or loss of finger grip etc. Despite the increasing use of technology, there is still a lack of general awareness on the adverse impact of persistent usages of such computing devices on various parts of the human body—i.e., notably, the hands and fingers.
Conventional exercise devices have been developed for fitness, rehabilitation, and therapeutic use. Conventional exercise devices include simple elastic bands which are used for strengthening the skeletal muscles and tendons. However, those devices have been associated with disadvantages including size, and bulkiness. Further, the conventional exercise devices can be very expensive, complex to assemble and cumbersome to use. Moreover, health advisors (physiotherapists, physicians and/or fitness centers, for e.g.) do recommend rest and arm and wrist exercises to strengthen the relevant muscles. But, those exercises don't go far enough or are very general in nature and fail to address issues specific to the user's hand and user's finger muscles or tendons.
In the light of aforementioned discussion there exists a need for a multi-functional exercise device that would overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.